A Photo a Week Challenge: Under the Lights
From Nancy Merrill: IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO OF TRICKY LIGHTING SITUATIONS.
Some things are hard to shoot, no matter what lens or camera you use. In this case, getting a picture of the brewing coffee using back-lighting from a window. The answer was a macro lens because none of my other lenses would find the right focus.
Night shooting is always tricky, but if you are going to hand hold the camera, using spot metering on whatever is the brightest point in the scene will usually work, if you’ve got a reasonably fast lens. The faster, the better.
Then, there’s shooting through glass. Not only do you have to account for some degree of dust and dirt — there’s always some, no matter how clean it seems — but there’s inevitably reflection. Processing these pictures takes patience … and filters.
My lens doesn’t knows whether to focus on the glass or the scene outside. Half the time, I wind up with a blurry mixture of both.
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Categories: #Photography, Boston, night, Photo A Week Challenge
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I think they’re all great Marilyn!
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Thanks 🙂 A lot depends on the lens and the camera. For night shots, it really is about the lens. Most of my favorite daytime lenses are impossible at night.
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Great photos Marilyn. I never thought about those complications and adaptations.
Leslie
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I don’t actually have problems with night shots as long as I use the right camera and lens, but shooting through glass is a permanent and possibly unsolvable challenge.
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Really nice work, Marilyn. The night shot is perfectly captured. Shooting through windows when it’s brighter outside than inside can also be tricky so it doesn’t overexpose. Great job. Thanks for joining the challenge!
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Thanks for being such a generous host 🙂 I still having solved the “shooting through glass” issues. I’m not sure they’re actually solvable, but I’ll keep trying.
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All great shots, Marilyn. But that night scene is perfectly exposed. Gotta love it.
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Thanks. I had the right lens on the Olympus. It’s a f1.7 and it will do the job really well …. as long as I can hold steady. I’m the wild card 🙂
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Same with me! I bought a pretty expensive (for me) tripod about a year ago and never use it.
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Yes, the tripod that lives in my car is the third good tripod I haven’t used. This one is much lighter and sturdier than the previously unused tripods. I think, eventually, I will own a very good tripod that I won’t use. I’m working my way up to it 😀
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I’m with you. This tripod cost almost as much as my lens. It sits in the trunk, well cushioned by old sweatshirts and blankets for when the temps here drop below 100! They are also unused.
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I absolutely believe I SHOULD use a tripod. I just don’t like them. I feel like I’m tethered to the ground. Some people have suggested a monopod, but I’m loathe to invest in yet one more expensive, unused piece of equipment.
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I’m with you. We were out last night and rather than use my tripod I upped the ISO. Haven’t looked at it on a large screen yet. But I asked about a monopod and was recommended against it.
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I think these are all great, but I especially like the third photo. The trees and outside look eerily, beautifully misty.
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Thank you. It wasn’t mist. It was heavy rain falling, but I just couldn’t get that much definition with the window in the way and I wasn’t about to go out there. There was a lot of lightning and this house has been hit three times since we’ve lived here. I didn’t want to make it four 🙂
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